Right Here Waiting For You
by himitsutsubasa
Summary: FAIL FICTION. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DON'T HAVE THE HEART TO WRITE ANYTHING GOOD. Arthur has waited and now a minstrel appears. His name is Mirnel. feat. Richard Marx.
1. Chapter 1

Not my best work. I'll tell you that much.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mirnel?" The name was new. It sounded like something but he brushed it off.

"Yes." The visiting royal, King Absilon, added eagerly, "Has the voice of a lark. A nightingale. Heard that voice and my heart melted. Charmed a way into my pocket without so much as looking at me."

Arthur wasn't sure. The man's taste for entertainment was definitely better than his wife. She found the jester funny. The only thing funny about the jester was his fall from grace. The man was one of the greatest knights in some other country. Now he was nothing more than a paid act. The failed juggling attempt was enough.

"Bring this singer of yours in. Can we expect them in before this jester makes a greater fool out of himself? " The foreign king's paunch jiggled as he laughed. He gestured to a girl who scurried off.

Arthur eyed her. This would be a good way to solidify an alliance. She was clearly not just a servant. She could be a candidate for marriage. She scurried back in.

A tall cloaked figure followed her. The figure moved with grace and fluidity. But, it commanded a presence. The hood turned and the figure must have sighted him for the grace shrank a little. The steps became more of a shuffle. Just like someone he knew.

"Here he is." The figure threw off the hood. Arthur bit back a gasp. That was the face that vanished from the court seven years ago. Just after he found out the greatest secret of all. Just before he let magic back into the city because of that secret.

The high cheek bones could cut granite. The Azure eyes sparkled like sapphires. The pale skin looked like moonlight on new parchment. The dark curls that seemed to be perpetually mussed. The ears stuck out in the funniest way. It was all there. It was him.

"This is Mirnel." The king gestured to the figure. Mirnel turned back the eyes were blank. Unseeing. "His eyes were harmed in an accident. But he has travelled far and wide. The stories he tells. Of lands with glasses of light and carriages that need no horses. 'Teknologee' he called it. Magic I say."

A voice that sounded so familiar rang out. It was laced with magic. "Very funny, King Absilon. It takes magic to get there but the residents are normal people. They are just good at sharing ideas and working together. They have moved mountains that way."

Arthur regained his voice. "Mirnel, you have traveled far? Tell me of your journeys."

"Yes, my lord." Mirnel recounted the tale of a Sherlock Holmes and his friend/lover a John Watson. He had the pleasure of meeting the gentleman who called himself a consulting detective. Mirnel spoke of a chase through the city of London in "cabs", carriages without horses, and the "hand gun", a more effective crossbow, that smote the villain. Arthur found himself caught in the web. He was following the dark coated, Sherlock, and his blonde companion in the search for a pink "phone" which he gathered was like a scrying device.

"That is a great tale," Arthur conceded. Mirnel bowed.

"That was but one. I have many others, my lord." The voice quivered. The lady Absilon chose then to break in.

"Oh, Mirnel! Sing a song for us. The one that makes me cry." Mirnel nodded. His head turned but his eyes were unseeing. Arthur wondered if that was the same person. That person would have recognized his voice, though.

Mirnel took a place and a hummed a few bars. The room was silenced and a soft melody thrummed in the air. Arthur knew the feel. The feeling of magic. People gasped but steadied themselves. Magic was legal. Everywhere in the kingdom. If that person ever came back he would find a place that had never been filled. Arthur settled in his chair and watched Mirnel. A rich baritone filled the air.

"Oceans apart day after day

And I slowly go insane

I hear your voice on the line

But it doesn't stop the pain"

Arthur took a deep breath. This tune, this song was foreign. Why did this sound so familiar. He let the music relax him.

"If I see you next to never

How can we say forever?"

The words were there… he heard a sniffle. It was a sad song.

"Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you"

He felt a chord stir in his heart. The words were everything.

"I took for granted, all the times

That I thought would last somehow

I hear the laughter, I taste the tears

But I can't get near you now."

He thought of Gwen and her love for Lancelot. They chose the worst way to tell him. He sent them and their child away in the night. He told the people their queen and the royal child, a princess had died. They mourned openly. He mourned silently. The two people that stood by him to remind him of the one that left were gone too. Mostly of the one that left him alone first.

"Oh, can't you see it baby

You've got me going crazy"

That just about described everyday after.

"Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you"

How long? How long?

"I wonder how we can survive

This romance

But in the end if I'm with you

I'll take the chance"

Had he even them given a chance? Had he done anything than back his love into a corner?

"Wherever you go

Whatever you do

I will be right here waiting for you

Whatever it takes

Or how my heart breaks

I will be right here waiting for you

Waiting for you"

The last three words described everything. Every day after the disappearance. Every place he went. Every person he spoke to. It was all just waiting. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Mirnel stopped the thrumming stopped. Everything fell silent. They people applauded. Through the blur he saw the hooded figure bow and head back his way.

"I hope you liked it." Mirnel's voice was soft and the eyes though blank fixed on him as if they could see.

"Mirnel, I would like to speak to you after. It is about a permanent place in Camelot." King Absilon grinned and elbowed him.

"I knew you would be drawn in. The banquet's in 'full swing' as Mirnel says. No one will miss you."

"Thank you." He motioned to Leon and Gwaine. They were still a bit stupefied but regained composure. The moment they laid eyes on the face, Gwaine had almost broken into a cheer and Leon had all but joined him.

* * *

><p>In his quarters, he sat Mirnel down in a chair. Arthur kneeled in front of it. He clasped on hand around Mirnel's.<p>

"Mirnel?"

"Yes?" His heart quickened. Years passed since he had heard the same inquiring tone.

"What is your real name?"

"Mirnel, sir." Arthur was worried. What if the thing that damaged his eyes had damaged his brain?

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you are the King Pendragon of Camelot." It was a hope that couldn't be extinguished.

"Where were you born?" Mirnel hesitated.

"Ealdor." The voice was barely a whisper.

"Your mother's name?" Another hesitation. Arthur knew then. It was him. The promise to never lie was still there. "Merlin?"

The body shook of its own accord. Arthur steadied himself placing a hand on the chair.

"Arthur?" The face he knew so well contorted into a face filled with fear.

He barely choked out, "Merlin." He put a hand on the cheek. It was only a day until he discovered why the disappearance made him run all over the city for him. He had years to rehearse. He had years to let the disappearance change him. If anything, he didn't want the first thing Merlin said to him be, "I hate you."

"I won't hurt you. I promise. Stay here."

"But…"

"Magic is legal."

"But…"

"I will protect you."

"But…"

"Your place is still here."

"But…"

"I love you." The words poured out. Why would Merlin still say "but"?

"Shut up, you dolt. I was going to say 'But, I love you and you love Gwen.' Though judging by the lack of her aura she left. The residue is faint. It has been long?"

"Five years. She and Lancelot have a son." Silence followed.

"May I ask how strong your magic is?"

"Remember every time something saved your life?"

"Lancelot told me but I didn't believe him. That was you?" Merlin nodded. Arthur pulled him from the chair and to the floor beside him in front of the fire. He tightened the embrace.

"Arthur, are you crying?" Arthur wiped his eyes. All the times he thought about it his eyes had watered. Now the drops were all over Merlin's face.

"Sorry." Merlin pressed his forehead to Arthurs and chuckled. The drops rained on his closed eyes.

"Where is the arrogant prat I left behind?"

"He took a hike when the real Arthur discovered what he missed out on, idiot."

"You are different. But you are still the same," Merlin just barely whispered.

"Klutz."

"Clot pole."

"Arse."

"Dollophead."

"What?"

"Turnip head."

"That's enough."

"Cabbage head."

The eyes that turned up to him were still blazing sapphires. But now they had a setting of gold. They were no longer sightless. They took in Arthur's face. A hand stroked his chin.

"You have a beard?"

"Goatee." Arthur corrected. "Gwaine said it made me looked sexy."

"You are with or without it."

"Oh?" Merlin was only inches away.

"Yes." They embraced for what felt like the first time.

* * *

><p>Arthur hummed a tune and Merlin sat up in bed.<p>

"That was the one I sang earlier."

"Yes. I think it describes me very well."

"Oh? That you were an idiot to let me go?"

"No." He pulled Merlin into a tight embrace and whispered in his ear. "That I was waiting for you."

"You were?"

"Every second of every day. For weeks, months, and years." Merlin grinned.

"I better be sure that song get's written then."

* * *

><p>"Quiet." Merlin snuck around the corner. His footsteps were silent. Arthur had mimicked the movements. Really, this place was huge. It was a "recording studio". Merlin explained that this was where songs were placed into boxes and plates. If you tinkered with it right you could get it to make sounds. Anything beyond that was just confusing.<p>

"In here." They snuck into a room. Merlin shuffled around "Aha! Paper!" He pulled out a sheet and waved his hands over it. Notes and words bloomed across the page as Merlin's eyes blossomed into gold. Arthur stood frozen. This was his Merlin.

"Arthur?" Merlin looked worried. "Are you alright?"

"Can you do that again?"

"What?" Merlin gaped incredulously.

"Magic?" Merlin nodded. A large curvy box with a handle and strings rose into the air. It looked like a mandolin, though he couldn't be sure. Footsteps sounded form outside. It dropped to the ground silently.

"Let's go." Merlin took his hand and they were out in a flash.

"What was that?" A young man walked into the room. He looked at the papers littered on the floor. It was just as he left it. But, he saw one thing out of place.

He unfolded the paper. It was sheet music. He played it tentatively listening to the chords. It sounded brilliant. Heartbreakingly brilliant. He added his voice a second time around. Whoever wrote this knew what he was doing.

"Marx, that is great. Let's record that ballad you wrote for Cynthia." Marx shook his head.

"No. That one wasn't any good," he dismissed. "Was anyone in the room?" The recording director shook his head.

"Sorry, no." There was a gold dragon on the right corner. He flipped the page over.

_This was our love story. Make sure it is recorded. With thankful hearts, A and M _

Richard sat back in his chair. "James, I'll record this one instead." The young man peeked in.

"Sure. What's it called?" He looked at the last two lines.

"Right Here Waiting…"

* * *

><p>"…For You."<p>

Merlin watched the sun set from the parapets. People had celebrated his return and Arthur granted him a new position as sorcerer. He gained another, more intimate, position as well.

"Did you hear that?" Arthur appeared beside him. How Merlin hadn't heard the clanking of metal could only be attributed to his thoughts.

"Richard Marx is recording the song right now." Merlin observed.

"Yeah." Arthur stood beside him. To imagine it was only a handful of years ago they stood at this spot and Merlin told him he was an idiot about more than one thing.

"Do you like the new Camelot?"

"How can I not?"

They leaned in for a kiss.

A voice could be heard serenading, drifting through the air.

"I'll be right here waiting for you."

* * *

><p>Wall of Disclaimers is up.<p> 


End file.
